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California: Illegal Aliens
The INS estimated in February 2003 that the resident illegal alien population of California was 2,209,000 as of January 2000. That compared to an estimate of 2,000,000 illegal alien residents in October, 1996. That was an increase by nearly 40% from the earlier estimate of 1,441,000 in October 1992.
The most recent INS estimate puts the average annual rate of increase in the illegal alien population in California from 1990 to 2000 at 73,200 aliens per year.
Based upon the new 2000 Census data, the Migration Policy Institute issued a May 2002 study that estimated California's illegal alien population at 2.3 million.
INS data listed in 1991 the number of applicants from California for the amnesty for illegal aliens adopted in 1986 as 1,624,070 (956,172 long-term illegal residents and 667,898 agricultural workers.
COST OF ILLEGAL ALIENS
California authorities requested compensation from the federal government in FY'99 for the incarceration expenses for 11,236,513 days of detention for illegal aliens in state and local jails and prisons. The cost of the detention amounted to $615,860,143. Under the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP), California received $237,981,284 in compensation, leaving $378,494,042 in uncompensated costs to be borne by California taxpayers. The SCAAP program began in 1994 and compensates the states and local jurisdictions only for incarceration of "undocumented," i.e. illegal, aliens who are serving time for a felony conviction or at least two misdemeanors.
In FY'00 California received $240,784,042 from SCAAP. Even though the federal assistance was higher, less money was available overall, so local taxpayers were forced to absorb a larger share of the cost of criminal alien incarceration. In FY'01 and FY'02, the amount of SCAAP payments received were $225,683,084 and $220,241,046 respectively.
FY'02 SCAAP data indicate that California's illegal alien inmate population has increased by 31 percent from the 11,236,510 inmate days in FY'99 (to 14,682,285 inmate days in FY'02).
Santa Ana is grappling with the side-effects of a large illegal alien population. The proliferation of check-cashing outlets in the downtown, commercial sector -- about three dozen of them in a 1.6 mile radius -- has become a sore point for city officials and other downtown merchants who think the operations detract from the attractiveness of the area to other shoppers. The City Council has proposed a ban on further check-cashing outlets unless they are at least 1,000 feet from an existing outlet. The outlets are popular with poor immigrants, often illegal aliens, because they do not require identification that would be required by a bank or retail outlet or to open a bank account. The check-cashing issue follows an effort by the city last year to ban street vendors selling everything from mangoes to tacos in the downtown area. That effort has been blocked in the courts.
(Source: Las Angeles Times, November 30, 1999)
Recriminations between INS and Anaheim Police
The Anaheim police think the INS is trying to downplay the success of the INS screening program for alien prisoners who may be deportable. The INS says that there have been just over 1,000 deportations from the program since 1996. The Anaheim officials say that over 3,000 deportable aliens have been identified by the screening. [FAIR Comment: The probable explanation of the discrepancy is that INS isn't deporting all of the aliens, even if they are illegally in the country, unless they fit the INS priorities in terms of the seriousness of the crime committed.]
(Source: Orange County Register, June 14, 1999)
One of the largest fake ID rackets ever busted by the INS was raided in Los Angeles on November 10. As many as 2 million fake government ID cards, credit cards and traveler's checks were seized. The group running the operation was composed of illegal aliens. The raid was the culmination of operations that began in August that had led to the arrest of 12 people.
(Source: AP, "Agents find 2 million counterfeit ID cards," Nov. 12, 1998)
The 1994 launching of Operation Gatekeeper in San Diego to better control the border has had the effect inter alia of causing greater numbers of illegal border crossers to attempt entry in the more sporadicaly patrolled border region east of San Diego. The terrain is much more desolate and this shift has led to increased deaths and serious cases of exposure among illegal entrants. For example in Imperial County, the number of illegal alien deaths doubled in 1998 to nearly 100. The County has incurred correspondingly increased expenses -- more than $1 million -- for related autopsies and medical care. As a result, Imperial County declared an immigration emergence on November 10 seeking federal government funds. Gov. Wilson announced immediately afterward that he endorsed the action and urged the state's congressional delegation to take up the issue in Washington.
(Source: AP, Nov. 11, 1998)
Investigators from the Fresno INS office are pursuing a new strategy toward illegal aliens that is likely to inconvenience them more than deter them. The policy is to work with employers to identify illegal alien workers and to train the employers how to recognize counterfeit work documents. The INS identified over 1,000 illegal alien workers in 14 agriculture-related enterprises over a two month period in the Coalinga, Caruthers and Sanger area. The employers were advised which documents were false, and most of the illegal aliens left the businesses. Follow-up operations by the INS found only 26 of the identified workers still on the job, and they were apprehended for carrying counterfeit green cards. The INS claims that it must pursue this strategy for lack of detention space. (FAIR Comment: This strategy would work only if identified illegal alien workers were unable to use the same false documents (or new ones) to get another job, and if employers -- after the training -- were made accountable for further hires of illegal aliens, both of which at present seem very unlikely. Therefore, this strategy appears to be designed to give the appearance of efforts to stop the tide of illegal aliens and detract from actions likely to stem it.)
(Source: Fresno Bee, Oct. 14, 1998)
According to state officials, there are about 70,000 pregnant illegal aliens in the state who are receiving state-subsidized prenatal care. The cost of this program to the state is estimated at $83.7 million over the past year. The state is attempting to comply with the voter initiative that mandates a cut-off of this service to illegal aliens. Stephen Frank, of Simi Valley, an activist who worked for the 1994 ballot measure, hopes that the cut-off of services will lead the illegal aliens to return home for the care they need.
(Source: Los Angeles Times, January 4, 1998)
A local organization, Immigration Control Advocates of Silicon Valley, has been waging an effort to force local government authorities to screen out illegal aliens from benefit programs. In January they led the El Camino Hospital District board to terminate a grant to a center that provided services to day laborers in Mountain View and Los Altos, because it did not screen its clients. But, in April they lost a similar effort to get the Mountain View city council to deny public funds to agencies that did not screen out illegal immigrants. Their effort was met by a much larger number of people opposing the measure, including two illegal aliens. Service providers argued that the screening requirement would reduce their ability to provide services, and the council's attorney assured members that they would violate no law if they refused to impose a screening requirement.
(Source: San Jose Mercury News, April 18, 1997)
Since November 1996, Anaheim has had an experimental program in which INS officers identify illegal aliens in detention in the city jail. In the first four months of the program, the INS identified 344 criminal illegal aliens for deportation. This number constituted over 17 percent of the total arrestees during the period.
(Source: Los Angeles Times, March 18, 1997)
The INS has issued a report on the operation of its pilot employment verification system in Southern California. As of February 1997, based on about 70,000 employment actions, 4,183 new hires could not be verified (about 6%). When verification is not possible on the first inquiry, the employer is notified and the employee is offered secondary verification to resolve his or her status. Reportedly the "vast majority" of the employees declined to request secondary verification and lost their jobs. INS Commissioner Meissner has requested the federal Equal Opportunity Commission to investigate whether any of those who lost their jobs were victims of discrimination.
(Source: The Fence Post, August, 1997 (Published by the Border Solution Task Force, San Diego, CA)